This blog is more aimed at those students who never got the grades they wanted and are returning next year. I just want to share with you what I did in order to achieve great improvement in my results this year and hope that you too can apply this to your situation, as I can empathize and understand how it is to stare at grades that are not so pleasant.
My first year at University was in 2006. To cut a long story short, by the end of the year, I had officially done crap :( I had to retake the year doing 6 out of 8 modules from the previous year in 2007. If this wasn't embarrassing enough, I failed 3 units out of 6 for the SECOND TIME!!!! Upon doing this, my Uni called me back to retake my 3 failed units in the Summer. Once again I failed 2 and passed one, narrowly deeming myself eligible for the second year of my course which was pretty embarassing and humiliating.
I never told anyone about these grades over the summer of 2008, but I really had a long think about them. I was getting to a place where I knew that something had to be done.
Didn't I realise that my grades needed to be good from day one. Of Course!!!! However, what I didn't consider was the workload and the cost of obtaining the grades that I wanted. I procastinated, and as a result I spent alot of time talking and dreaming but no real ACTION!!
Let me tell you something I learnt the hard way,
"Change comes when we see that the price of NOT changing is higher than the price of changing"
Brian Klemmer
Last year September I considered about 5/6 steps in order to approach the year
- Look critically at how you spend your time, the difference between a rich and poor man is how they spend their time!!! Plan out a timetable and try your hardest to stick to it.
- Attend ALL lectures. One thing I've found is that it is usually quite hard to read something that has not been explained to you. Attendance is very important as it makes your job easier!!!
- Set Goals for each module/ unit and do all within your power to reach that goal. Meet deadlines by starting coursework early. Heres a model to work by, if you've been given 4 weeks for coursework:
WEEK 3: Review the work for spellings, grammar and references and also take it to a mentor or lecturer
WEEK 4: Complete the piece and hand in TWO DAYS EARLY
5. Get the help of a mentor if need be, you don't have to do it by yourself. For future reference when a plan is in place it is always good to have someone to help you hit targets. Someone you respect, that will committed to your success even when you are not :p.
6. Regulate who and what you keep around you. Ever heard the saying, bad company corrupts good character. Well this is also the same for grades and goals in life. Surrounding yourself with people who have lower expectations for their grades, or who aren't serious about their studies will affect you. Some people can go partying all weekend and pull off fantastic grades..If you are not one of those people. SURROUNDING yourself with those people can affect your performance. Instead find like-minded people you can agree with to achieve.
This is just my take on how to achieve success, and I can honestly say I've improved greatlly from performing attrociously in my first year (2006-07) to the second year (2008-09) of this course achieving a 2.1, which I thought would never be possible. I'm still improving as I still have 2 resits to do but hey!! Rome wasn't built in a day!! ;-)
Thank God, it is possible to achieve good grades, but it'll take hard work guys. If we pace ourselves and take one step at a time...We can do it!!!
Till Next Time.....
R.O.K
Posts
